It seemed as if it was only a matter of time after Annie Murphy’s big break on “Schitt’s Creek” that her incandescent charm and exquisite comic timing would bring her into the realm of romantic comedies, only her star was on the rise at the wrong moment. Had her Emmy-winning turn as Alexis Rose occurred a decade earlier, there surely would’ve been any number of big studio romances to put her on the path to becoming the next Sandra Bullock, but when the genre hit a rough patch in an age where only blockbusters seemed like sure bets, Murphy has been picking her spots with supporting roles in darker material such as “Russian Doll” and “Fingernails,” leaving it up for debate in “All That She Wants” whether she’s saving the romcom with the kind of winning, approachable turn that fueled the genre’s heights of popularity or whether the genre is saving her a bit when she’s finally getting a lead to take advantage of all her gifts An older Murphy proves to be key to a wiser spin on the genre from longtime “Schitt’s Creek” writer David West Read, who clearly knows how to bring out the best in the actress, and co-directors Scarlett Bermingham and Andrew Rhymer, the latter of whom previously helmed (with Jeff Chan) the last romcom this refreshing with the Maya Erskine/Jack Quaid romp “Plus One.”
Among the many things that can bring a smile to your face in “All That She Wants” that it just so happens that timing is what bedevils Murphy’s Emma, a dancer who is taking it as a sign to hang up her heels when her best offers these days are coming in commercials for panty-liners. The film smartly refrains from Emma freaking out about hitting her mid-thirties where she’s had enough professional success to be content with leaving the only life she’s known behind. However, as much as she would like to take her time easing into a next phase after dancing every day since she was 7, she is jolted by a breakup with her boyfriend of ten years (Finn Wittrock), which might conveniently fit in with this massive shift if not for the fact she seems to meet her soulmate almost immediately after in Luke (Cooper Raiff) after her sister (Zosia Mamet) takes her out to the clubs for the first time in years.
There’s also something besides the speed with which Emma and Luke are bonding over the old fashioned Québécois music from his father’s generation that only the two of them could love when he is 10 years younger than her. While maturity doesn’t seem to be an issue — he’s a grad student with clearly a good head on his shoulders — the idea of depriving him of sowing his wild oats as she believes she missed out on herself with her head was down in dance is something she can’t live with as she considers anything beyond a one-night stand. Radiating with warmth from Murphy’s nuanced turn and subtleties in Read’s script, Emma would be a rare character in any narrative in terms of her conscientiousness regarding others, but when avoiding heartbreak is generally the main goal in rom-coms, the selflessness to the point of depriving herself of her own happiness is entirely endearing and creates a different set of stakes.
It could be dismissed as merely a cutesy touch that all the action in “All That She Wants” takes place almost exclusively during the months of May and December over the course of a few years, but the timeline proves shrewd as it checks in on Emma at significant moments as she starts her second act, pivoting as gracefully as she would on stage from one career to another when her mother (Christine Baranski) suffers from a stammer that leads her into studying speech pathology, and sets her sights on having a child as she always wanted. Although Luke will surely be back in the mix, he finds his way into the picture in an unexpected way when Emma lands on a clever yet clearly flawed idea to have a baby on her own that would be a litmus test for any suitor, yet when it comes to a donor, she can’t imagine anyone better than the tall, handsome biology major she met. Luke is eager to do her a favor, content for that to be all there is, but surely thinking the procreation process could lead to something more.
Murphy and Raiff make for a charming pair, but each with more than enough on their mind to make walking away a real possibility throughout, and just as the characters fight to allow themselves to indulge in the fantasy of what their lives could be against what’s rational, Bermingham and Rhymer will give themselves the leeway to loosen up the reality when the moment calls for making things a little more preposterously romantic like having a thuddingly literal love song played live on set as Luke and Emma make eyes at each other. Always feeling as if you’re watching real people in something just a little bit better than true life, “All That She Wants” ultimately has anything anyone would want from a movie like this.
“All That She Wants” will screen again at the Toronto Film Fest at the Scotiabank on September 15th at 6:15 pm, September 19th at 6:20 pm and September 20th at 7:30 pm.